The Chinese Exclusion Act and Angel Island
A Brief History with DocumentsFirst Edition ©2019
The Chinese Exclusion Act and Angel Island will introduce students to a broader and more inclusive vision of U.S. immigration history and, ultimately, a better understanding of the world we live in. What is uniquely important about this book are the personal stories and viewpoints of propon...
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The Chinese Exclusion Act and Angel Island will introduce students to a broader and more inclusive vision of U.S. immigration history and, ultimately, a better understanding of the world we live in. What is uniquely important about this book are the personal stories and viewpoints of proponents and opponents of the Chinese exclusion laws; of Chinese immigrants who posed as “paper sons” and “paper daughters” to evade the exclusion laws; and of immigration officials who held strong convictions about how the immigration laws should be enforced. The introduction provides students with an over-arching historical, socio-economic, and political context by which to understand the compilation of primary documents that follow. For the same reason, each document has its own headnote with background information about the author and comments on its historical significance. Further pedagogical aids include a Chronology, new Questions for Consideration, and a revised Selected Bibliography.
“This volume is a comprehensive synthesis of the latest scholarship on Chinese exclusion and its repeal. It conveniently and succinctly provides detailed information, even as it includes documents that give a glimpse of those involved in the heated debates over immigration policy and Chinese exclusion, an issue still relevant today.”
— Franklin Ng, California State University, Fresno“The scholarship is precise, up to date, and extremely useful. [It is] Invaluable and an excellent resource.”
— Erika Lee, University of Minnesota“The author’s introduction is well-done, the documents are well chosen, the headnotes are solid, the chronology is extensive, and the bibliography very useful. I would simply say that if one wanted a brief and concise book on Angel Island with good primary documents, this is the best choice out there.”
— K. Scott Wong, Williams College
Table of Contents
Foreword
Preface
Illustrations
PART ONE
Introduction: Chinese Immigration to the United States Origins of Chinese Immigration
The Road to Chinese Exclusion
Congress Takes Action
Enforcing the Exclusion Laws, 1882-1910
Detained on Angel Island, 1910-1940
Addressing "a Historic Mistake"
PART TWO
The Documents
1. The Road to Exclusion
1. John Bigler, Governor’s Special Message, April 23, 1852
2. Norman Asing, To His Excellency Governor Bigler, May 5, 1852
3. Frank Pixley, An Address to the People of California in Mass Meeting, April 5, 1876
4. Representative Chinamen in America, A Memorial to His Excellency U.S. Grant, President of the United States, 1876
5. The Times, The Wild Hoodlum: Kearney’s Visit to Philadelphia, August 31, 1878
6. Senators John F. Miller and George Frisbie Hoar, Congressional Debate on Chinese Exclusion, February 28 – March 1, 1882
7. An Act to Execute Certain Treaty Stipulations Relating to Chinese (Chinese Exclusion Act), May 6, 1882
2. Representations of the Chinese in the Popular Press
8. Bret Harte, The Heathen Chinee, 1870
9. Rough on Rats, 1880s
10. Opium Den, 1877
11. Thomas Nast, The Chinese Question, 1871
12. George Frederick Keller, "What shall we do with our boys?" 1882
13. George Frederick Keller, A Statute for Our Harbor, 1881
14. James Albert Wales, "Where both platforms agree," 1880
15. Friedrich Graetz, The Anti-Chinese Wall, 1882
3. Enforcing the Chinese Exclusion Laws
16. John H. Wise, Letters Sent by the Collector, 1895
17. Terence V. Powderly, Exclude Anarchists and Chinaman! 1901
18. Ng Poon Chew, The Treatment of the Exempt Classes of Chinese in the United States, 1908
19. Oscar S. Straus, Chinese Immigration, 1907
20. John D. Nagle, Exposing the Ramifications of the Coaching Evil, January 15, 1925
21. Emery Sims, "Giving every applicant a square deal," 1929-40
22. Edwar Lee, "Not a ghost of a chance for a Chinese to be an inspector," 1927-38
23. Jann Mon Fong, A Gold Mountain Man’s Monologue, March 5, 1935
24. Lee Puey You, "A bowlful of tears," 1939-40
25. Lee Puey You’s Interrogation, April 24, 1939
26. A Chinese Poem Left by a Deportee
4. Correcting a Historic Mistake
27. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Message to Congress on Repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Laws, October 11, 1943
28. Senate Resolution 201, May 26, 2011
Appendix
A Chronology of Chinese Immigration and Exclusion, 1784-2012
Questions for Consideration
Selected Bibliography
Authors
Judy Yung
Judy Yung, Professor Emerita of American Studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz, is the daughter of Chinese immigrants who were detained on Angel Island. She received her Master’s in Library Science and Ph.D. in Ethnic Studies from the University of California, Berkeley, before joining the faculty at UC Santa Cruz, where she taught courses in Asian American history, women’s studies, ethnic studies, and oral history. Her publications include Island: Poetry and History of Chinese Immigrants on Angel Island; Unbound Feet: A Social History of Chinese Women in San Francisco; Chinese American Voices: From the Gold Rush to the Present; The Adventures of Eddie Fung: Chinatown Kid, Texas Cowboy, Prisoner of War; and Angel Island: Immigrant Gateway to America.
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